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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2019)
WEEKEND EDITION // SATuRdAY, dEcEmbER 21, 2019 147TH YEAR, NO. 75 $1.50 Crab season to open at the end of December By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Astorian Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian Nolan Mathews, of the Astoria Fire Department, surveys a fallen tree behind City Lumber on Friday morning. STORM CAUSES DAMAGE ALONG THE NORTH COAST Downed trees and power lines By NICOLE BALES The Astorian storm sweeping through the North Coast top- pled trees and power lines and left many resi- dents without electricity. The region is expected to see up to 10 inches of rain during the storm, which began Thursday and could last through Saturday. Flood watches and heavy rain and wind advisories are in effect for the Oregon and Washington state coasts through Saturday. There have been reports of flooding and fallen trees and power lines throughout the region. Debris and downed trees were reported along U.S. Highway 26, U.S. Highway 101, U.S. Highway 30 and state Highway 202. There was flooding in and along Highway 101 south of Seaside near Beerman Creek Road, which slowed traffic. Highway 30 closed Friday morning near John Day River Road after power lines fell across the highway. Over 14,000 Pacific Power customers lost power Friday due to the storm. The power outages affected South County and left Cannon Beach and most of Sea- side without power. Customers in Warrenton also experienced power outages throughout the day on Friday. Warrenton Grade School and Warrenton High School students were sent home early due to power outages. Astoria schools experienced delays. Clatsop Community College also closed. A Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian Signs at 20th Street and Marine Drive lay in the road at the entrance to the maritime museum parking lot. A delayed opening to Oregon’s commer- cial Dungeness crab fish- ery has become a familiar story in recent years. Marine toxins, low- meat yield, squabbles over price and bad weather have all pushed seasons past the traditional Dec. 1 opener. And the current season is no different. Fish and wildlife offi- cials announced Friday that the state’s most valu- able fishery would open on Dec. 31 after being delayed to allow crabs to fill out with more meat. Testing in November and early December revealed low meat yield in crabs across the tri-state region that includes Oregon, Washington state and California. By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian R.J. marx/The Astorian See Crab season, Page A5 Many new voters are unaffiliated A quirk of the Motor Voter Act A storm caused flooding along U.S. Highway 101 south of Seaside. The commercial fish- ery has weathered delays for several seasons in a row. Last year, the fish- ery opener was delayed through January due to high levels of the marine toxin domoic acid. “I think it’s hard to say it’s the new normal,” said Tim Novotny, spokesman for the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission. “But I do think fishermen are maybe becoming (accus- tomed) to the delay … not that it’s any less difficult to deal with but the shock has maybe worn a bit.” The fishery remains highly lucrative despite the uncertainty. Crabbers ended up landing 18.7 million pounds last season, above the 10-year average, and, at $66.7 million, secured the highest ex-vessel value ever. Anyone getting or renewing their driver’s license or state ID in Ore- gon since 2016 has been automatically registered to vote, thanks to the passage of the state’s Motor Voter Act. The secretary of state sends a card informing peo- ple of their registration and asking for a political party affiliation. Those who don’t respond are among the nearly 36% of unaffiliated voters in Clatsop County, a bloc larger than the num- ber of registered Democrats or Republicans that now makes up a third of Ore- gon’s electorate. See Voters, Page A6 Unaffiliated voters Eighteen of Oregon’s 36 counties have more unaffiliated voters than any other type of registration. Astoria *As of Oct. 2019 Hermiston Pendleton Enterprise Portland LaGrande Salem Corvallis John Day ShawnAnn Hope A tree was down near Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. Eugene Baker City Ontario Bend Burns Majority by county Republican A life on the streets ends in death A familiar face downtown By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Astorian The death of a 72-year-old home- less woman on the streets of Astoria this week rattled city officials and advocates, leading them to question what more could have been done to help her. Gail Griffey died of natural causes on Tuesday, according to police. She had been reported unconscious and unresponsive that night outside of T&C Home Furnishings on Commer- cial Street and was pronounced dead at Columbia Memorial Hospital. MEMORIAL A visitation for Gail Griffey is planned at Hughes-Ransom mortuary in Astoria at 10 a.m. on dec. 28. A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Gail Griffey Griffey was a familiar face down- town. When she lived in the Astor Build- ing on 14th Street, she took long walks through town most mornings and was a regular at several coffee shops. She and her longtime boyfriend, Charlie McK- enzie, became homeless in 2018 after being evicted from their apartment. The morning of the day she died, Griffey told Sam McDaniel, the owner of the Astoria Downtown Market, where Griffey was a regular customer, that a cough was bothering her. It was the most he had ever heard her complain about her situation. Annie Martin, the president of the Astoria Warming Center’s board, also saw her not long before her death. Griffey’s moods could swing dramat- ically — Astoria police report numerous contacts with her for misdemeanors and she faced charges after throwing a cup of coffee at a convenience store employee and striking the woman. But many knew her as friendly and sweet-natured. When Martin saw her, “she seemed back to her old self”: cheerful, optimis- tic, caring. Griffey, Martin said, would give someone the coat off of her back if See Death, Page A5 Medford Democrat Klamath Falls Unaffiliated Percentage of registered voters who are unaffiliated per county*: County Baker Benton Clackamas Clatsop Columbia Coos Crook Curry Deschutes Douglas Gilliam Grant Harney Hood River Jackson Jefferson Josephine Klamath Percent 31.3% 29.3 31.6 35.9 35.3 36.7 32.7 36.8 33 34.3 31.5 29 29.3 34.5 33.5 38.7 36.2 36.9 Source: Oregon Secretary of State (cont.) Lake Lane Lincoln Linn Malheur Marion Morrow Multnomah Polk Sherman Tillamook Umatilla Union Wallowa Wasco Washington Wheeler Yamhill 31.1 32 36.8 35.4 43.1 36 40.8 32 33.2 27.8 34.6 41.8 31 27.6 37.5 35 25.5 34 Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
